Garment-supporter.



@NEED TAE@ FFEE.

DANIEL G. BUTTSJ OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR TO THE IVORY. GARTER COMPANY, OF NEW GRLEANS, LOUISIANA, A UORPORATION F LOUISIANA.

eAiaMnNr-surrcnrnza.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Aug. 24C, 1915.

Application :tiled .lune 15, 1911. Serial No. 633,295.

To all whom, may concern: v

Be it known that l, DANIEL G. BnTTs, a citizen of the United. `States, residing at New-Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain'` new and useful Improvements in Garment- Supporters andA l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,'and exact de- This invention relates to garment supporters and more especially to that type of supporter designed for supporting hosiery, the invention having to do more particularly with the means for securing the garment to the supporter, and the objects being to provide an exceedingly simple and durable de vice which will not injure the garments or,` the materials of which the supporter is con- I the intermediate portion f2 transversely `or sti-noted.

A further object of the invention is to'provide a construction which will permit' of the substantially rigid portions of the fastening device being made of Celluloid or vsimilar non-metallic material, without the necessity of cementing the parts together or of forming loose ends liable to catch in the overlying or underlying garments or be.broken in use. The invention consists 'in certainnovel de tails of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as will be described and pointed out particularly in the appended claims. f

Referring to vthe accompanying drawings,-Figuie l is a'perspective view of a garment supporter embodying the present improvements; Fig. 21 is a side elevation of Athe Afastening device or Vclasp for securing the garment to the supporter; Fig. 3 is a section in a central longitudinal plane with the parts in position ready to receive the edge of a garment; Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are detail perspective views of the four elements whichform the body of the clasp.

formed'by tlre double end of the web embraces'and is itself included within a ring D` with 'which the hook is adapted to engage.

lnasmuch as the rigid or semi-rigid portions oif the whole device are made of cellupi'eferably formed from sheets of material,- a conyen1ent-and strong construction of hook is provided, by osetting a central tongue b in a-small plate, as will be readily f understood. from Fig. .1. Depending from the ring l) is .the usual tab or hanger E for the clasp or garment. at-

taching member. This tab E is usually of fabric and ofelastic, as shown in Fig. l.

so loid or simi-lainon-metallic material, and

ln the preferredy form illustrated in Figs.

1 to 7, inclusive, the clasp embodies a body plateF having an aperture therein converging at the lower end, as at f, and a cross bar f at thetop'. ,The two ends ofthe plate are odset with respect to eachother-.by bending diagonally as best seen in Figs. 2 and 3. i.

forced too tightly against the member G,

as to prevent it having a slidable, as welles a pivotal action, in relation thereto; rl/he hinge member `is provided with vthree apertures, through the upper two g, g" of which the end of the supporting fabric is passed, while the bottom cross bar g2, formed by rthe lower aperture, is adapted for the reception of avpivoted tongue H, Fig. 6. The lower cross bar g2 is centrally oiiset at g3 for the reception of the tongue, whichftongue is thereby held against lateral movement and is supported, when the clasp is in closed position,-as shown in Fig. 2, so as to lie with its axis substantially within the plane of the lower end of the body plate F. The tongue H is formed by a strip of Celluloid doubled at the center to form an eye for embracingthe cross bar g2, and while the materialA is usually suiiiciently rigid without other `securing means, it is preferred to inclose the ends forming the tongue bya soft vulcanized .rubber sleeve l whichwill insure a firm grip on the garment and prevent any possibility of tearing or perforating the same.

In use, the parts are turned to the position shown in Fig. 3 5 one-edge or the garment is llo slipped between the tongue and body plate F, and the tongue is then forced down through the aperture in the body plate to the position indicated in Fig. 2, carrying with it a bight olf the garment, as indicated in sa-id Fig. 2, whereby the garment will be sey curely caught and held inasmuch as it cannot escape until the tongue is again turned up to the position indicated in Fig. 3. The offset portion f2 of the body plate, not only materially facilitates the entry of the tongue withits bight of the garment, but it also allows the axis of the tongue to turn past the face of the lower end of the body plate and allows the parts to lie closely together without prominent projections on either face.

The material of which the clasp is formed is semirigid in character, but is capable of being deflected or bent to a very considerable degree without breaking and without acquiring a permanent set. The construe-- tion of the' device is such that all of the parts may be bent up into shape while the material is in a plastic condition, and may then be assembled without the necessity of cementing. or forming small eyes, pintles and lugs, as is usually the case in the formation of metal clasps having pivot-ally connected members or members hinged together. By making the members ot the clasp of the present invention of strips doubled centrally to form the eyes, for em brat-,ing the cross bai', it becomes possible to `connect the ends ot the strip in the manner described, so that escape of the members is prevented, and at the same time the resili- 'jf'e'ncy of the material in connection with the A'cross bars (which are substantially hat, 1n-

stead' ot" round in cross section) holds the parts in any position to which they may be moved; thus, the clasp will stand in the open position shown in Fig. 3, unt-il positively moved by the hand, Aand when turned to the lookin(r )osition sh( wn in Fig. 2 the elasb zo 7 Iplate is avoided, the fabric ot the supporting member itselt constituting the means for connecting the parts. 'An additional advantage of this construction lies in the fact that thc 'fabric provides a certain flexibility and yielding ot" the parts with relation tor` each other. whereby the clasp readily adapts itself' to varying thicknesses of the garments with` which' it may be engaged, and avoids any possibility ot a bight or pinch on the garment of such character as to endanger the fabric. ln this connection it maybe stated further thatthe Celluloid of which the members of theclasp are formed does Inot tend to cut fabric, as .is the case with metallic clasps, nor does this material oxidize and cause a deterioration of either the garment or he elastic or rubber used in connection with the clasp itself.

It will be particularly noted that the axis of the tongue passes within the aperture or beyond the tace of the lower offset end of the body plate when in locked position, whereby upward thrust on the end of the tongue or garment cannot move the tongue in a direction to open the clasp and consequently the garment will be securely held even though there is no downward pull.

The pivotal connectionbetween the hinge member and tongue is movable beyond the center line considering thevv parts as a toggle, but its movement in this direction is limited by the engagement of the edges of the hinge member with the sides of the body plate,

inasmuch as the hinge member is of greater width than the garment aperture through the plate. I f

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. In a garment supporter embodying a pendent pliant clasp hanger and a hinge member having apertures therein through which the hanger passes to form a pivot loop on one side of said hinge member, a clasp comprising a body plate having a downwardly tapering garment receiving aperture therein,`the top of said plate forming a cross bar extending across` the entire plate, said'cross bar being confined in said pivot loop whereby the body plate is slidl ably and pivotally attached to the hinge.

member, by means 'oitl the hanger only, a tongue`pivotally connected with the hinge member and formed of a strip. doubled centrally to form a bearing eye and with the ends extended parallel with each other, and a sleeve surrounding the two ends of the strip to form a garment engaging tongue adapted to pass through the aperture and hold a bight of the garment on the opposite side of the plate.

2, In a garment supporter a pendentA pliant clasp hanger, ahinge member having a plurality of cross bars one of which is offset, said hanger passing between said cross bars to form a pivot loop on one side of said member, a body plate having a downwardly tapering garment receiving aperture therein Aot. less width than the hinge membelgthc top of said plate forming a cross bai-.for the top ot said aperture, said cross bar be- :ing confined in the pivot loop whereby said plate is pivotally held to the hinge'member by said pivot loop only, and a tongue pivrwoes otally mounted hinge member to form a toggle therewith andhaving its free end formed to pass 7through the aperture and engage a bight 'of the garment on body plate'from' the'hnge member.

3. In a garment Supporter, a pendent plilant clasp hanger, a hinge member having a pluralityv of cross bars and apertures through which the hanger passes to'fform a pivot loop on one side of the member,'abody plat/e having a downwardly tapering gar# ment receiv'ng aperture therein of less Width than the lilingemember. and arrose lbar above saidyaperture confined and pivotally mounted in said hanger loop with vsin intermediate oross baroithe hinge member, the. lower endr of the plate being offset toward on the offset cross bar of the opposite side of the.

ward pressure.

vthe side on which the hinge member is lo-I cated and the lower cross bar of the hinge member being centrally offset in the opposite direction, 'and .a tongue pivoted on the offset portion ofvsaid last named' cross bar to forma toggle therewith and adapted to pass through the garment receiving aperture and engage and hold a bight of the garment on the opposite side ofthe plate with the point of the toggle beyond its center line, whereby the clasp is held closed when the end lof the tongue is subjected to. up-

DANIEL G'. BUTTS.

Witnesses: A.H.VB1TTER,

LAURA C. QmNrnRo. 

